Dart



A ril 18, 1950 R's, TERRY 2,504,757

' DART Filed Oct. 17, 1947 fPOBE/PT s. YER/W,

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 UNITED QYFF'ICE' DARTsJ Robert S.,,Te'rry, lndianapolid lnda Application ember- 17; 1941; Serial No:i=80i465 5:Claims..-= (creased-06.5),

videaiaznnissilsthat :will..more :truly'sadhere :to in;

projectediinemf-flight;

s It (is tanzobject; of the-invention: torzprovide 5851i dart iwith.:a'irelativelyrlong:jorrelongated groover inztheiaft portion: thereof rsouas ztorzreduce .the

Weight iof: the: rear end of ;thesprojec.tile :andztoshift the center of gravity forwardly whereby the flight: zof the projectile aw-illi be '.stabilized1hy'-j,con-

centratingfz the major portion; ofz: the: weighttowards .tlie icirward:.end-v ofrtherproi'ectilee. Anothenobject :of. therin zentionzis itoazprovides groove: or slot an ;the-:rear "portion :of :awdart havingrargreate'r zwidthsinsthe. rear end thereof}:

than the widthiot the slot at theciorward 'end $0.: asrto further reduce :theweight ofi the tart. portiom and: atzthe: same rtim'ectocprovide'. earslot: :of 21111-1 creasing width proceedingrearwardly, oi'theimissi-le to 'permit the darttomore readily "escape-z. v anielastic band or bow str'ing in firing the pros jectile'z Aifurther ;and more-' detailed obje'ct of' the in vention: resides in providing a =.dart"'with :one or more 'fins arranged outwardlyofthe relatively"; long arms formed by-the groove or:slot, 'so as-to stabilize the dart-in: flight'and prevent wavering or Wobbling of the lightened aft portion'of missiledurin'g a projected flight towards a target.

Other objects and-features or-the invention will be more apparentas the present-disclosure'proceeds and upon consideration of the accompany? ing drawing and the following detailed description wherein several typical embodiments of the invention are disclosed.

. In the drawings:

Figil is a, perspective view'of a'dart exhibiting the inventions Fig ztis a side elevationalview of the projectile.:

dart .issalso. :ofitthe etypeewhich :mayabe rpropelled forwardly towards a target byvmean'sofxan elastic; member 101:; by: means :of iaabowrstring: suchias .is

employed: for propelling anrarrowi A character-f istio feature oi: the inventionrpertains to .a groove: orislot'extend-ing l'e'ngthwise of the dart through-.- out i the vimajor portion: of;.-:the:length; and this" groovei provides the-'advantagea'of 'reducingsthe; weight ofrthe ait portion of thesmissile and there by 'eonoentrating;:theeweight tnearsth'e forward: ends Snelrishifting 'of the -center of gravity 1 providesrtproiectile whieh fis stable in: flight The elonga eds-groove alsoifaoilitates the adaptation of the. proziectile-tci asbow string or' an elastic memberr employedn in projecting the I dart f orwardlyc.- Amnoreadtailedfeature pertains to theprogressive a wid enin'grrof' the slot in" proceeding rearwardly ofthe projectilefi Referring-to the drawing,'th'ere is shown at IU- a body porti'on ofa proje'ctile "which may be fGDI iIEfi' O-f- WOOQ-DI any suitable lightweight material snch'as plasticor even alight Weight metal alloy? The 'nose portio'n carries "a pin or 'elon gated inetal member =1 2 provided with a sharp and pointed end ll fo'npenetrating- =the target such as a relativel'y s'oft boardhaving-a target design thereon: The pin" [2 n'iaybe'embedde'd in the nose portion as is indicated in' dotted lines of Fig:: 2} and securely anchored" therein so as to be rig-idly attached-tomedart body and-at the same tiineanairitained inalignment with the longitudinalaxis ='0f "steam:

The/nose 'porti'on'of the projectile slopes rearwardly and outwardlyffrom-the pin l2 so as to providea'profile'which is'so shaped as'to reduceaerod'ynamio resistance to' the forward movement of the'dartf It isto-"rJ'e-noted that theprojectile is'ciroulaivin shapeiearwardly-ofthe nose; as. clearly showntin Fig.3 and maybe provided with a -dfa'meter rearwardly'of the. point lt' wh'ich' is somewh at smaller than. the maximum. diameter.

onthenoserportion...

In one exemplary embodiinent,. tlie.overal1 lengthzfromithe nose-48.tathe-rearend; amounts touapproximatelygthree and one-.halfjnches... A

characteristicefieatuizeeofethe cinvention however pertains to the length of a slot or groove 2| which is arranged to extend lengthwise of the axis of the dart. This groove is of such length as to extend forwardly from the rear end approximately two and one-half inches when the overall length of the dart body amounts to three and one-half inches. Accordingly, in carrying out the invention, the length of the groove 2| weight of the projectile forwardly and tends tostabilize the flight of the missile.

Another feature of the device pertains to the shape of the groove 2|, which is wider between the rear tip portions of the arms 22 than at the} forward end 24. This progressivev widening of the groove in proceeding rearwardly tends to' further diminish the weight'of the aft :portion of the projectile, and at the same time provides a groove having walls which progressively diverge from each other so as to permit the dart to escape from a bow string or the like without engaging such a propelling element.

' A dart embodying the invention includes one or more fins as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, where two fins 26 and 2'! are employed to further stabilize the projectile in its movement towards the target. These fins may be formed of any light Weight sheet material such as cellulose acetate or any other plastic or cardboard. The fins are desirably seated in grooves in the outer periphery of the dart. One of such grooves is indicated in dottedlines at 28 in Fig.2. When two fins are employed, they are preferably arranged in diametrically opposite position as shown in Fig. 3.

A' modification includes more than two fins, and in another example as shown in Fig. 4, a larger number of fins are employed. In this embodiment four fins 3|, 32, 33 and 34 are mounted in radially arranged planes on 'the projectile.

When a number of fins greater in number than a two are employed, these'fins may be circumferentially spaced so as to radiate from the arms 22 defining the groove 2 l. The dart shown in Fig. 4

metes and bounds of the invention. A number of modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and such changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A dart comprising, a dart body having a tapered nose portion, a pin extending forwardly from said portion, said dart body having -an elongated groove therein extending throughout substantially two-thirds of the length of the dart body and provided with an open end at the rear thereof, and fins carried by thedart body and positioned upon the body to extend therefrom at opposite sides of said groove.

2. A dart comprising, a body member having a. tapered nose, a pin extending forwardly from said nose, said body having a groove therein extending throughout the major portion of the length of the dart body and provided with an open end in the rear thereof, and said groove being wider at the aft open' portion than at th forward end of the groove.

g 3. A projectile comprising, a dart body having a tapered nose portion, a pin extending forwardly from said portion, said dart body having an elongated slot therein extending throughout substan tially two-thirds of thelength of the dart body and'provided with an open end in the rear thereis adaptable for outdoor use'where air currents have a greater tendency to influence the flight of the projectile towards the target.

The'concentration of the weight at the forward end portion tends to maintain the missile in a true and stabilized flight towards the target. If a bow string or elastic member is employed for urging the dart forwardly, this element may be introduced into the slot or groove 2! so as to engage the projectile adjacent the forward end 24 of the slot. The relatively long arms 22 then provide an elongated portion of the dart body rearwardly of the bow string or elastic member forgrasping by the fingers and thumb, so as to properly orient the projectile prior to its release. The relatively wide rear portion of the groove permits the dart to escape from the bow string or the like without having this element engage the inner walls of the arm 22 defining the groove andthereby avoids deflection of the projectile from its intended flight.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific structural features, it is not intended that such disclosure should form the of, said slot being wider at the rear end of the dart body than the Width of the slot at the forward end of the slot, and fins carried by the dart outwardly of said slot.

4. A projectile comprising, a dart body having a tapered nose, a pin extending forwardly from said nose, said body having a slot therein extending throughout the major portion of the length of the dart body and provided with an open end in the aft portion, said groove being wider at the aft portion than at the forward end of the slot, and radially arranged fins mounted on the dart body rearwardly of the forward end of said slot.

5. A projectile comprising, a body member having a tapered nose, a pin extending forwardly from said portion, said body member having a. slot therein extending throughout the major portion of the length of the body member to provide elongated arms on each side of said slot and having an open end at the aft portion, said slot being wider at the aft portion than at the forward end thereof, and two fins carried by each of said arms.

.1 ROBERT S. TERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The'following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

